SUNDAY BULLETS*NOW YOU KNOW WHY RONNNNNNN so desperately begged KGO/Cumulus management to have a token, on-air appearance: so he could tell a local travel agency to keep his freebie cruise gigs --which best explains why there's such a thing as "Ronn Owens Report", slightly more invigorating than a Lodi whore house.
*Ronn's been back with Jan now for a full year which makes it much more easier for Ronn to continue dating Tara.
*The other day, Larry Baer and Ronn had lunch at Original Joe's; I wonder what they schmoozed; wife stories; bed and breakfast inns; manicures and pedicures; cell phone adventures; I'm guessing the bloody marry was drink(s) of choice.
*I know it would be sacrilegious to say Dave Flemming is technically, an above-average broadcaster but mind-numbing BORING and quite dull. Lon Simmons (not fair, I know) had broadcast moxie, a over-wry sense of humor and an abundance of sarcasm and pointedness. He knew the game too which helps. Hank Greenwald was especially worthy when the Giants were in the toilet (as they were when he broadcast); Greenwald would tell it like it is. Jon Miller, when he's not on assignment every other road series, has become incredibly tiresome and disinterested. Duane Kuiper sounds like he's moderating a funeral. Don't get me wrong, Flemming is good, just a tad too much artificial. Like a Noah's bagel with Velveeta cheese.
*Only reason to listen to FM radio: Jack Culp, KCSM, and Sarah and Vinnie on 97.3 Alice.
*To be good at anything, especially radio, I remember Larry King saying many times, "BE YOURSELF." I'm reminded of that the few times I listen to Mark Thompson on KGO. Thompson has Bay Area ties but his LA gestalt has buried any real, local, Bay Area originality. Thompson is in love with his voice and he has great pipes but NOTHING to say. Nothing to say that is even remotely interesting. Even his interviews are BORING. KGO tried to light a fire but instead managed to barely ignite a flicker. Thompson should have stayed in LA where his superficiality would be honored and cherished. Wait a minute! He is in LA!
*Damon Bruce claims he really, really wanted Ray Ratto to be his co-host which, if you believe that, you also believe Donald Trump is an Outcast fan.
*Dear John Rothmann: enough of the "There's no place I'd rather be then right here with you." Even your amen corner is getting sick of that ...and I would remind you, John, that your wife agrees with me and she rarely does.
*Pat Thurston gets a pass for her occasional shrieks because she's sincere and compassionate to the max even if you disagree with her politics like I sometimes do.
*I've grown on Chip Franklin and Nikki Medoro because their subject matter and back-and-forth are interesting. It helps too that Chip sounds sincere and Nick is the ultimate contrarian --genuine debate on radio is good radio when the protagonists are passionate and believable. Chip had an epiphany --Nikki too: they rearranged the furniture so the house looks good now.
"It helps too that Chip sounds sincere and Nick is the ultimate contrarian --genuine debate on radio is good radio when the protagonists are passionate and believable"
ReplyDeleteSound good on paper...unfortunately they are (1) both incredibly irritating people, and (2) dumb as a box of rocks and so it does not work at all.
Regular KGO listener of 30+ years until they canned everyone, and Chip Franklin is hands down the worst host I've ever heard on KGO.
yes, chip is the worst, not funny, not bright, pretty racist, though. can he talk over Nikki more, just to rant about himself. can't wait until he is gone....
DeleteWith all of the bias in your blog postings recently you should consider changing the name of the blog to MSNB415 or even RNN.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention KCSM -- they're in the midst of a very lackluster Spring pledge drive. Why was it scaled back to 2 weeks instead of 3, and yet they're still expected to raise 300Gs?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened? You used to dump on Sarah &Vinnie!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree on Damon Bruce. I doubt he likes working with Ratto. I wonder how much 95.7 paid him for this arrangement
ReplyDeleteRatto, disagree's with every opinion that Bruce makes, it much be irritating as heck.
DeleteI doubt they paid Damon any more. He's getting killed in the ratings, so most likely they told him that if he wanted to keep his job he would have to accept Ratto.
Delete@2:17- I'm still kind of surprised that Damon is not doing well in the ratings. Before Ratto was added it looked like Damon had a good thing on 95.7. He had a good rapport with Gianna and the rest of the people who work with him on his show, he had top flight guests, a good connection with his callers and followers, and he had long standing segments such as the Tuesday trifecta, 5 before 5, the Game of Thrones segments, and the Taking it 2 to the Tweets segment. He always bragged about having good ratings.
DeleteTo me, adding Ratto has ruined his show. Yeah, sometimes debate can be good on sports talk radio shows, but as Neal said, Ratto disagrees with everything Damon says and you can kind of hear Damon's frustration at times on the air, even though Damon plays along.
It's hard for me to imagine that 95.7 would've let Damon go if his ratings continued to apparently struggle, but it's kind of too bad they didn't pair him up with someone else instead, or possibly try to pry someone else away from KNBR like Larry Krueger or maybe even Tolbert perhaps if they wanted to pair Damon up with someone who has a big name in Bay Area sports media.
I think Damon and Kolsky are good, even though Kolsky is of course not as big of a name as Ratto, despite him working on KNBR for a number of years as their update guy and fill-in host.
But yes, those probably might've been the unfortunate parameters for Damon.
I think you are being a little hard on John, I know you like his show, as does many of his callers. As far as I can tell, several talk show host start there show with some kind of slogan or similar, here are a few examples: Rush "On talent on loan from God", Hannity "Freedom is back in style" Tom Sullivan his is more factual, usual he this on this day in the Lord of etc. and Gene Burns (still miss him, can just imagine his take on Trump) "We are here to discuss issues of the day", I don't mind John saying there is no place I
ReplyDeletewould rather be, because it is obvious he means it, even if it gets a little trite after awhile. It is certainly better than "Hanging with Langdon" but then I was never a fan of Maureen Langdon.
hey 10:48 pm: Langan - not Langdon
ReplyDeleteRonn Lowenstein only cares about himself. That comes as no surprise. He used to be good. But like yesterday's hot dog lunch, that too has passed.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants announcers aren't as good as they like to think they are. Flemming is serviceable. Miller should leave the building and take Kuiper with him. His brother Glen does a much better job on the Athletics telecasts. Maybe "Outta Here" can do tennis instead.
Do your ears a favor -- listen to the Athletics.
yes to all that unless chris townsend is doing pbp somebody must have thought he would be halfway decent, but is panifull listening to him never give the score, even at the end of the inning sometimes, he never recaps the game, doesnt give any background on the player, just him yapping away and name dropping.. he's shaky on a home run call, its always did he get enough after every fly ball..
DeleteGlen Kuiper sucks and he'd be working at Walmart if it weren't for his brother. Nepotism at its finest
ReplyDeleteYeah, Glen Kuiper is kind of boring. He's very dry and doesn't have the same dry humor as Duane Kuiper. A's games can be boring to watch sometimes because of him and Ray Fosse. They're obviously not Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow. With that being said, Dallas Braden has added a new spark to the A's home telecasts. Have to admit, kind of a genious idea by the A's to bring him in. He played for the A's not too long ago and he still has passion for the A's organization. He's almost like a younger Mike Krukow, but an A's version of him.
DeleteAs far as TV play-by-play guys go, Greg Papa probably really was the A's last really good TV play-by-play guy.
Back to Glen Kuiper, I remember Glen Kuiper doing sidelines for Warrior telecasts and had Amy G's role for Giants telecasts back in the day, and would sometimes fill-in for Duane Kuiper for Giants games. I think he was better in that role, even though I don't blame him for wanting to be a full-time TV play-by-play guy.
I almost wonder if he will come back to the Giants and call Giants games on TV when Duane Kuiper retires.
Flemming is good, but he is the set-up guy to all the wry remarks and sarcasm from all the vets. I'm looking forward to how much personality he'll let out once Miller retires -- and I think Miller's retirement should be like Lon's ... bring back on home Sundays (or Flemming's football days).
ReplyDeleteWhen something is happening on the field, Miller and Flem are as good as anyone, but when nothing is happening on the field,
ReplyDeleteSimmons and Greenwald were far superior. The latter situation is
the toughest and separates the good ones from the great ones.
Can't stand chump and his screeching sidekick. I listen to kgo. LOVE the format EXCEPT them. I turn the kgo when they are on then go back to kgo when they are over. Chump get through his show without making some comment you would heAR in a junior high locker room.
ReplyDeleteAnd now you're an expert on Lodi whorehouses? Name one.
ReplyDeletethe worst thing about the chipster and his lady friend is when they try to talk sports, since really neither of them know anything in depth, its just what they must hear from knbr they must drop in on tommy tolbert and johnny lond before their show starts for their "takes"
ReplyDeleteI think Dave Flemming is pretty good. He's climbing up the ranks on ESPN and doing higher profile college football and MLB games, so he's doing something right. He's fair, but I think at the same time he tries to be balanced and neutral since he also does games on ESPN. I never really understood the dislike for Dave Flemming but some Giants fans. It's either Dave Flemming, or have guys like Joe Angel or Tim McCarver calling games for the Giants on the radio again. The Giants have a good thing in Dave Flemming. Hard to believe he's been calling Giants games for 15 years now. I remember when he started back in 2004.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I would still bring back Ted Robinson if I'm the Giants, for the games that Kuip and Jon Miller are "on assignment".
Love Pat Thurston .....
ReplyDelete